Tuesday, December 14, 2021

How Faith Works: Faith Sees

 


and that in law no one is declared righteous with God, is evident, because `The righteous by faith shall live;' Galatians 3:11 YLT

 In our last study, we discovered what Faith is. We saw that Faith is resting in a good opinion of God. We saw that Faith is an important and vital aspect of life in Christ. 

 Understanding this it seems good to see how Faith works. To see and understand how we can walk by Faith in our everyday life. To purposefully and actively lay hold of and possess all God has procured and purchased for us in His perfect work of Redemption.

 In order to walk by Faith, we have to examine what we are looking at. I am not just speaking of natural sight but by spiritual and even mental sight. How do you see yourself? 

 Have you ever been given a questionaire from a medical profession? Ever been asked questions such as how would you describe your health? These questions are asking how do you see yourself? My point is that sight is about more than just our eyesight. 

  For we walk by faith, not by sight. 2 Corinthian 5:7 MEV

 Here Paul is informing us by the inspiration of the Spirit that Faith sees different than what our natural senses tell us. It doesn't matter what it feels like or seems like. It only matters what God says about it.

 In seeing how Faith works we can see the life of Abraham as a great example for us. If we look at Abraham we see Faith demonstrated even before Christ and the New Covenant. Let's look at Genesis. 

 In Genesis 12, we see the initial call and promises God made to Abraham. Understand then that God had spoken. What He said is truth. Now let's look at Abraham's, then called Abram, response to God's Word some time later in Genesis 15. 

After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.” But Abram said, “Lord God, what will You give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”                            Genesis 15:1-2 NKJV

What is Abram's response? He tells God only what he can see and feel and what his experience is. Yet, He already had God's Word, the guarantee of what he was seeking. Remember, God's Word is true, not because we experience it or feel it or see it naturally. It's true because God said it, and because He said we should experience it.

 Abram's words reveal something. He couldn't see himself as a father, let alone as the father of multitude. In order to get him over into Faith, God had to change his image. God gave him a picture, He showed him the sands of the seashore and the stars in the sky. 

 God gave Abram something to see, something to help build a Faith image on the inside of him. This is an aspect of Christianity that the false new age, witchcraft, and the mysticism crowd have perverted. God's Word builds a good image on the inside of a Godly man. 

A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.              Proverbs 25:11 KJV

 This passage speaks of good words giving us a positive image. Abraham had to have the inner image he had of being a childless man changed to the image God had spoken over him. At first, Abraham couldn't see himself the way God did. 

 Faith sees. Faith rooted in the good Words of God builds a right image on the inside of us. God's Word of promise produces a Faith image in the inner man of the Righteous. We can by Faith see ourselves the way God does. Instead of a broken, worthless, sinful image we can possess a image of a Righteous man in whom God loves unconditionally and is always well pleased with.

 Think of it. When you fail or fall or foul up and sin, how do you see yourself? Lost? Broken? Out of fellowship and connection with God? Unforgiven, unrighteous, or unworthy? Or because of the Word deposited within your heart, do you still see yourself as Righteous? Do you still see yourself as accepted, approved, and forgiven? Feeding on the Word will build the right Faith image within.

 If sickness or disease strikes how do you see yourself? Do you say to God, "what will you do seeing I go without health?" Or do you reject the grow worse image and accept and receive the image of the one healed and made whole because of the Finished Work? Hold fast to that Faith image, focus on who God declares you are.

 If poverty and lack strikes how do you see yourself? Again, reject that image of being the broke, penniless beggar. It has been said many times that poverty is a mindset. That is a negative self image that expects lack and want. We are children of the Most High God. We are children of the King. We need not lack in any good thing. Feed on the Word and the promise of provision God has purchased for us in Redemption.

 Feed on God's Word. Build an image on the inside of who God declares us to be. Faith sees what God sees. God is Good, let's feed on that Goodness and receive of it and change the way we see ourselves.

 In summation, let's gain a God's eye view and relinquish a worldly, defeated, downcast image sin and a fallen world produce. Faith sees. Faith sees all the promise and provision of Christ and accepts it regardless of current circumstance or situation. It's not denying the circumstance's existence but rather choosing to focus on the higher truth of redemption. 

Image by Jeff Jacobs from Pixabay

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